Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig
by Takako's Revenge
Summary: Pop idol Aino Minako gets sick of her manager’s poor planning and fires him, only to find that his replacement is none other than old friend and secret crush, Hino Rei. Can Rei fix Mina’s career, maybe even her heart? Longer summary inside. Shoujo ai. R
1. The Final Straw

Hey guys! I'm back already, so time for the Bishoujo Fall Hardest series I owe you. I'll also try to shorten these little pre-story banters and… well, let's see what else I've learned from "Drink Up", ne?

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. If anything, Sailor Moon owns me. I also don't own Stacie Orrico or her song, "(There's Gotta Be) More To Life", which I think applies to Mina in some respects. Or Billie Piper's "Girlfriend". I know, a bit of a time warp, but you'll get why when you read it.

Finally, the longer summary I promised…

**SUMMARY:** Rei/Minako. Her last gig being a complete disaster, Minako has finally had enough of her manager's poor planning. She fires him, only to find that his replacement is none other than old best friend and secret love interest, Hino Rei. Predictably, Mina's emotional torrent drives her to distraction when she should be her most focused - her live performances are getting a bad reputation, her contract with her record company is expiring and she's falling out of the headlines. Aino Minako is old news. Her next gig - situated back in hometown Tokyo - is her last chance to redeem herself. With Rei's help, can she save her career? And will old wounds be healed or deepened?

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter One: The Final Straw**

Mina heard the familiar _boom_ of the spotlights being switched on as she stood centre-stage, eyes closed to absorb the energy. From how loud and foreboding that sound was, she sometimes felt that it was the switch to the entire world. Maybe it was. The switch to _her_ world, at least.

After minimal struggle, Aino Minako had hit stardom at the tender age of eighteen – at least that's what you would assume if you didn't know she was already revered manga and real life super hero Sailor V, as well as being one fifth of the Sailor Scouts. Given these past titles, 'tender' is also quite a misconception, for Mina was a hardened warrior even at fourteen.

It was a result of this tough-skinned alter ego that she had survived for seven wonderfully superficial years in such a ruthless industry; Minako had lost true innocence a long time ago, when a talking white cat had appeared to her and started a rant which was to last over two years, about a civilisation on the Moon and a binding to destiny.

Don't take this the wrong way - her sweet, catchy melodies weren't so much a lie, just only one side of the blonde-haired blue-eyed idol; the onstage angel who behind the curtain had fought to stay on top of the pile of wannabes and next big things with boundless success. Until now.

Cheers erupted through the stadium, prompting her to open her eyes. What she saw both filled her with the familiar thrill of an audience, and a newer feeling that she liked far less. Concern. Once again, there were empty seats – not enough for anyone accept Minako to notice, but the categorical perfectionist watched as the gaps seemed to swell before her.

This had happened far too frequently lately. It wasn't that she had turned into a total diva who thought that she was better than her audience gave her credit for. In fact, it was quite the reverse. She felt inadequate, a disappointment to the fan-base that had once been so huge.

This 'new' feeling was actually an incredibly old one renewed – deep-rooted, almost like being shot and never removing the bullet. She had felt inadequate before; she had seen those gaps before, but they hadn't been out there… they had been within her, a part of that intense feeling of being incomplete.

Admittedly, though, this time was different. This time, she was happy for anyone to fill the spaces in the arena. Back then, only one person could fill the void in her heart, a person she could and would never have. And the stupid thing was that, despite all she should have learned from it, she dealt with that emotion exactly the same now as she did all those years ago – she hid behind a captivating smile and told herself to cry, mainly because she was renowned for a tendency to do what she was specifically told not to.

She heard herself psyching up the crowd with panto tricks and mindless chitchat as she felt her mind drift back to that girl.

Hino Rei.

Keeping that stunning face and that long raven hair fixed in her mind, she began her first set, ignoring the notion that she had always known the answer to the questions in her song.

_I've got it all but I feel so deprived_

_I go up, I come down, and I'm emptier inside_

_Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing_

_And why can't I let it go?_

_**There's gotta be more to life**_

_**Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me**_

'_**Cos the more that I'm**_

_**Tripping I'm thinking there must be more to life**_

_**Well it's life, but I'm sure**_

_**There's gotta be more than wanting more**_

_I've got the time, and I'm wasting it slowly_

_Here in this moment I'm halfway out the door_

_Onto the next thing, I'm searching for something that's missing_

_**There's gotta be more to life**_

_**Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me**_

'_**Cos the more that I'm**_

_**Tripping I'm thinking there must be more to life**_

_**Well it's life, but I'm sure**_

_**There's gotta be more**_

_I'm wanting more…_

_I'm always waiting on something other than this_

_Why am I feeling like there's something I missed…_

_Always… Always…_

She listened to the feedback from the speakers and inwardly cringed when she realised that the acoustics were off. She knew she couldn't change pitch because she would sound off-key, and she could hardly stop the show. She tried to calculate a way out, and grudgingly resolved to finish the set before tackling the problem.

All this behind a smile.

Those fifteen minutes passed agonisingly slowly, but finally she thanked the audience for the first time that night and ducked off the platform, congeniality replaced with rage as she stalked determinedly through the shadows in search of the one person who should be able to give her an explanation.

"Goro!" she eventually found him, vodka in hand, grinning from ear to ear. He had obviously convinced himself that he was dripping with female admirers, when in fact they were Minako's third set backing dancers attempting with limited success to prop him up. She'd have used his surname like she usually did, but the rudeness of the informality was a kick (along with the fact that he always seemed to wince when she said it, which Minako assumed had something to do with his mother calling him this in exactly the same tone).

"'Sup, Aino?"

"What the hell is up with my acoustics? I thought we sorted that out this morning when we were setting up! Did you not give my notes to the technicians?"

"I figured they were already set."

"I told you, there was a stand-up act at four, so we'd have to give the settings for the gig to the sound guys! Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"Eh," he swayed, and Mina's eye twitched, "the audience won't notice jack. They're still goin' crazy for ya, right?"

She glared. "Yamamoto, if I can hear it with eight God-damned speakers blaring at me, I don't even wanna imagine what the people at the back of the stadium are picking up."

She took out a black marker and a postcard-sized colour headshot of herself, of which she was always armed to the teeth. The curse of stardom. She turned the photo over and scrawled the details down on the back with an adulthood's worth of autograph practice.

She looked up at him irritably, yanking the vodka bottle from his hand. She kicked the glare up a notch as she rammed the picture against his chest.

"There. Now fix it!"

With that, she stormed off, swooping past a bottle of spring water and taking a quick swig before going back under the thick air of anticipation. It cleared the second she got back on the platform as the cheers fell upon her again. She noticed with a pang that it was slightly less enthusiastic that before.

"Hey again, guys," she breezed to her Californian audience. Between her time in England and her tours, she had become fluent in the language and liked to show it off to prove a point. Her opinions were very important to her, and she hated the idea of being given a script. Sure acting was something she wouldn't mind delving into, but not here. These people before her, they were real. The experience was raw, and she owed them the same level of frankness and individuality.

This attitude went down very well with her fans, and she appreciated how like-minded they could be to her. It gave her the confidence to know that whatever she felt was the right thing to do with her music, they would agree with.

She went through the same routine as before, trying to help them warm to her again while simultaneously teasing them by holding back the next song. Plus she needed to buy extra time to make sure the sound stuff was all figured out before she started up again.

Eventually, though, she had no choice but to sing.

_Better to play a trump card. A classic will definitely win them back over._

Given this change of strategy, she needed to warn the crew that she was singing something different, so she started without a backing track…

_Do you have a girlfriend?_

She heard the audience rooting for her with even more zeal than at the opening act, and smiled genuinely this time. She held the mic out to her audience, encouraging them to sing along to her debut song, way back in '96. They responded obediently…

**You're lookin' real cool**

_Can I have your number?_

**You don't have a thing to lose**

She beamed, remembering suddenly her reputation. Of course she could salvage this, she was an idol, for Kami's sake.

Spoke too soon.

_Do you ha-_

The speakers shrieked and the audience let out a cry of outrage at the noise. Minako's stomach plummeted.

_They've overcharged the amps. Something's gotta give…_

And it did. It happened to be the worst thing that could possibly cut out on her.

Out went the spotlights.

'The switch to her world' was right. Her world had just ended.

Minako stood centre-stage in the darkness once again, listening to the anguish and jeers from her fans. Soon to be ex-fans.

_Cry, Minako. Cry._

But for once she obeyed, allowing the tears to fall down her beautiful face.

_It's over, isn't it?_

---

Hey guys, what do you think? I know, Rei hasn't appeared yet, but she will next chapter. Maybe. It's just Mina's the central character for this fic, so we need some details about her life now, and I'm trying not to sound totally clueless about the lifestyles of the famous and the rich, which in no way infringes upon the rights of a certain punk/pop band which released a single of a similar name...

Anyhow, R&R!


	2. Backlit Amazons

Hello, my dear amigos. Welcome to the second chapter in the first instalment (which I had no idea had only one "L") of Bishoujo Fall Hardest.

Good news. Our other protagonist makes a much-anticipated appearance. Part of me thinks I should hide it from you to build suspense, but fearing you all have my attention span, I think it's better I cut to the chase rather than let you lose interest. If you disagree with this idea, please tell me and I will remove it.

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

Now, come on, let's roll!

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Two: Backlit Amazons**

Anything to forget.

The past two weeks had been a blur of spirit shots and drug bullets. These highs were of course a phenomenon for which she paid, and thus the Mt. Fuji-scale plummets were spent in bed, accumulating a stink which Minako had only previously achieved in her adolescence.

This implies that Mina had not emerged from her Los Angeles home at all since the fateful night of her reputation's demise. That's a little unfair. In fact, just yesterday – was it yesterday? Her hibernation routine had really messed with her head – she had crossed the Pacific and settled back into her luxury Tokyo apartment.

She had no idea why she had chosen to do this, or, indeed, how she had gotten here (presumably on the private jet that she was running out of money to maintain), but she figured that of her several assistants, at least one would be able to reiterate her logic back to her.

In the meantime, Minako was content to loll in the comfort of her futon, safe with the knowledge that she was in the one place where she could ask for dorayaki and people would actually know what the hell she was talking about.

The star rolled over onto her perfectly toned stomach and occupied her mind with for once sane thoughts of completely insane occurrences. It was the first time in this nightmarish fortnight that she had been able to think clearly, having fluctuated with steadily lessening violence between bouncing off the walls with artificial ecstasy and being totally and utterly distraught.

The main objects of her perplexity may or may not have been actual events. The haze which surrounded them, and the obvious out-of-it sensations which often accompanied hits of mind-altering substances, made it difficult to decipher whether they were dreams or memories.

The majority of these happenings she had easily dismissed as unreal, often because they resulted in her falling from somewhere high. Her dreams had been ending that way for a while now, even before California.

That only left two major "dreams".

The first concerned her manager. She hoped desperately that this one was real, because otherwise she was going to have to wait for a recurrence and take notes.

"_That is IT! I can't stand your sloppy planning! I have been trying to hold myself above water single-handedly for this entire tour. And you know what's funny about it? I had actually convinced myself that it was MY fault that my fans were leaving me; MY fault my gigs were disasters. I've been putting myself down for months because of you, because you can't turn up on time, and you can't be bothered to find me new contacts, and you can't even give ONE piece of paper, to ONE sound co-ordinator, without me having to hold your freakin' hand, which, by the way, normal people WASH when they go to the bathroom! No hundredth chances, Goro! You're fired! Plain and simple!"_

She smiled victoriously to herself. Yep, almost definitely real. He hadn't called her or burst in without warning in days. She had always been forced to have an unpredictable morning schedule so he couldn't work out the times of her showers.

The second was more recent, but far less clear.

_There was a lot of noise, mostly warped and jumbled. It sounded like a lot of people talking at once, but the distortion dehumanised them to a point that the heroine within cowered at being outnumbered._

_Not only outnumbered, but blind. Blinded by the lights. They flashed at irregular intervals, surrounded her entirely, as if she had finally floated into a hostile afterlife after the death of her radiant spotlight._

_Her retina burned as the voices became louder, more eager. She felt unable to breath, the typical symptom of surrendering one's personal space. The star was dying, ready to implode, when suddenly a woman slashed down the pack of parasites with a mighty swing of her ballpoint pen. Backlit by the galaxy of flashbulbs, she should have been hard to recognise, but Minako watched the unruly black hair flick in cool dismissal of the creatures, and immediately she knew._

"_Rei…"_

Mina pulled the covers over her head.

It wasn't exactly like she hadn't dreamt about Rei before. It happened all the time, and that was what made it all the harder to accept the truth of the vision – Rei in her dreams was a common occurrence; Rei in her life was a near impossibility.

She pulled the duvet tighter and allowed her eyes to grow heavy…

"_Ms Hino, please-"_

"_I don't care! I want the little dweeb out of her cave! Surely you've gotta figure it's the best thing for her?"_

"_I know, Ms Hino, but, with respect, it's… it's more than my job's worth."_

_A pause._

"_Heh. Yeah, I guess she always was a dragon in the mornings, and that's excluding her breath… Fine, I'll fetch her myself. Trust me, I'm an old friend, I have that kind of power."_

Mina opened her eyes and found herself looking directly at the clock. 6:10 PM.

"Jeez, where'd the day go?"

"It had elsewhere to be. Like, oh, gee, I don't know, France?"

Mina spun around in bed to see a figure sat on her armchair. Her face was tilted slightly downwards, any prominent features shrouded by large six o'clock shadows in the last glow of sunset.

"Who…?" Mina started, then resolved it would be better to turn on her bedside lamp.

As if on cue, the woman stood and walked forwards into the light.

She looked to be about 5'3", just slightly taller than the blonde, except with waist-length raven hair and sharp amethyst orbs.

_No… it can't be…_

From the corner of her eye, Mina noticed an empty shot glass still lying around from earlier. She gave it a distrustful look and knocked it out of the way.

"I've gotta be seeing things. Rei? Hino Rei?"

The familiar smirk fell upon those well-defined features.

"So, you remember me. Glad to see I've left an impression on you."

_Deeper than you know, Rei-chan…_

"What are you… doing here?"

Minako took this opportunity to survey her friend's appearance more thoroughly and, going with the Hollywood tilt-shot, she started at the bottom. She wore ankle boots with chunky heels, and low-cut stonewashed jeans hugged her hips in a way that Mina found to be heart-stoppingly flattering to her figure. Rei had always been an early developer, but she had now filled out completely, her curves outlined perfectly by a tight-fitting scarlet DKNY tee-shirt. This casual look was forced to put "smart" and a hyphen in front of it, however, due to the thin black blazer resting upon her shoulders.

Finally, Mina noticed that she had grown her fringe out, and the longer raven bangs now framed her face. The idol smiled without the consent of her brain. She kind of liked it; it made her look more grown up.

Then the response to the question pounded through her euphoria like a hypothetical, but still very painful, ton of bricks.

"I'm your new manager."

Silence.

"You're my _what_, now?"

Rei laughed. "Please, I'm kidding. I'm your _stand-in_ manager. I'm only around for the last performance of this year's tour."

The blonde stared at her, before raising her eyebrows in an expression somewhere between superiority and pity.

"Well, you're a little late, there, Rei. My last performance was in California two weeks ago."

The other woman's brow furrowed. "No it wasn't, your last performance is here in six days."

Around Japan, there was a brief moment where the entire deaf community thought that they had been cured.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! What am I going to _do_, Rei? I can't go _out _there again!"

"Of course you can, and it's my job to make you."

Mina's eyes widened in indignation and she stormed over to one of her wardrobes. Rei watched in bewildered amusement - she just _had_ to see where this was going. A few moments later, she emerged with a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs and, before her new boss could get over this and stop her, she was already chained to the radiator.

"I'm, uh…" the raven-haired woman looked mildly concerned as she watched Minako smiling proudly, "not sure I wanna know why you have those."

The blonde feigned a seductive smile, and Rei stood stock still, swallowing hard at the gesture. For the first time in her life, Mina saw wariness in those eyes, but it was quickly blinked into a determined expression.

"Minako, get out of those. Now!"

"Will you let me off the gig?"

"No."

"Then I'm staying."

There was a small pause before Rei took a running leap at her, tackling her into the wall. The taller woman eventually came out the stronger of the two, pinning Mina's hands above her head despite the limited reach of the cuffs.

"Ow, what are you…? Let go of my arm! Why are you prying my fingers open?"

Rei, having wormed her way into the idol's empty palm, suddenly stopped at feeling of her breath on her neck, and reluctantly dropped her head to meet Mina's gaze.

Their faces were inches apart. Spooked by being in such close quarters, she pushed off from her friend and found herself in a standing position.

It occurred to her.

"You mean you don't have the key?"

Mina grinned at her opponent's dismay, before her words sank in. Then her face dropped.

Rei wasn't entirely sure whether she should be laughing at her stupidity or crying because she had lost their little battle.

_Then again, the words, "cut", "nose" and "face" spring to mind, so technically, _both _of us lost._

Settling upon exhaustion, Rei flopped down beside Mina, and the two sat quietly for a long time.

_Not to worry. You can be damned sure I'm gonna win the war._

---

There ya go, children! Sorry it took a while to update. Next chapter, REI'S history! I've decided I should even out the perspectives a little, so…

And by the way, dorayaki is a Japanese-prepared pancake that's folded with custard in the middle, with raspberry sauce… Mmm…

On that note, if I burst into tears randomly, it's because the long denial stage has finally ended, and I have accepted that I couldn't have dorayaki myself on Monday because it wasn't on the belt at Selfridges.

Anyhow, REVIEW ME!! Many thanks…


	3. What You Missed

Hello, people! Here I am with Chapter Trois. Should explain what the hell's been going on with Rei for the past seven years. Includes a minor character death that everybody expected, and some bashing of Yuuichirou, though if you're here for Rei/Minako, I'm sure all of you will tell me to fire away. It was the most in-character way I had of making him a tosser. He's not all bad in this though, I promise.

Oh, and I'm sorry I made Mina abuse drugs last time. It's just that when you suffer that kind of humiliation in a career environment where it's easy to access stuff like that, I think the temptation would be very high. She isn't normally a druggie, don't worry!

Now that's cleared up, I will for the millionth time disclaim the Sailor Moon series (I disclaim Sailor Moon), and send us on our merry way…

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Three: What You Missed**

"So you're a manager now."

"Yeah."

And so after half an hour of sulking over their scuffle, the two women sat side by side against the radiator.

"What drew you in?"

"Honestly? Yuuichirou got me into it."

Mina felt like she had been slapped. Then again, she still wanted to know the answer, so she withstood the hurt and continued to listen.

"You know his band really took off around here just before you left? Well, he invited me to a gig, so I went with him to help set up. You know Yuuchirou, he's not exactly the quickest guy in the world, so when you add three other guys just like him into the mix, it had always been pretty much impossible for them to be ready on time. I watched the same thing starting to happen, and… well…"

Mina grinned. "…And you took the reigns and kicked them all into line."

Rei seemed ready to protest to this turn of phrase, but then gave up.

"Yeah." She smiled. "He asked me to manage the band. You remember how it was with us. He was into me, and I liked having him around, so… it seemed logical. Accepting the job was kind of like a round-about way of agreeing to make a go of it together."

The jealousy burned within her, but she tried to quash it. Now a more important question…

"Are you two still…?"

"Huh?" Rei looked at her and the blonde girl saw a pained expression befall her features. "Oh… no. That ended a long time ago."

She was afraid to ask, but... "What happened?"

"He, uh… partied a little too hard."

She sighed.

"I had always been around to curb his more dangerous addictions, but then when Grandpa got sick, I stayed home to help out at the shrine. By the time he got better and I went back to the band… things were a mess. _He_ was a mess.

"It had caused rifts between us for a while, but he was the worst I'd ever seen him, and I guess it struck a nerve. I'd just spent weeks taking care of someone who was ill by no fault of his own, and suddenly I was babysitting a guy inflicting problems on himself. I gave him an ultimatum. Either he ditched the drugs or I'd ditch him."

Mina watched her eyes glaze with tears.

"He told me he couldn't stop." She scoffed bitterly. "I remember how he begged me not to leave him. He was absolutely hysterical. I agreed to help him go cold-turkey, but after days of cleaning up after his hysteria, of crying because he was screaming through the walls and I knew I was powerless to help, I found his room empty one morning. When I caught up with him, he was shooting up in a park."

Minako grabbed the young woman's wrist. Rei just looked at the floor. "And that was it. I walked out."

"Kami, Rei."

The envy metamorphosed into the worst kind of rage. There was a silence where Rei found time to breathe from the emotional upheaval and Mina thundered below the surface.

"Did you find more work?"

"To be honest, I didn't really look. When I spent time with Grandpa, I realised how much I loved being there. Plus I had to aim for local bands because I didn't want to leave the country, and it's hard to pin those guys down. I was never exactly high up on the food chain, so it was just a case waiting for an opportunity to work with someone less pop-" (this time it was Mina's turn to look at the floor) "-ular."

The guilt on her manager's face was plain. "God Mina, I'm sorry, that was totally-"

"It's okay, really." She appeared to look inwardly and a wistful smile played upon her full lips. "I know I'm not what I used to be."

Rei tried to find consoling words, but was spared the torment when Mina steered the conversation back to her friend.

"So, what did Grandpa think of your career choice? How is he these days?"

Silence.

"Rei?"

The faraway look returning to her friend's eyes brought concern to Minako's. The taller girl took a deep breathe. She felt the words would catch in her throat, but knew all the more that she had to force them out.

"He died. Five years ago."

She looked across at the idol to gauge her reaction. She found that she had recoiled slightly, a hurt expression on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…"

_Because I didn't want to hold you back._

_Because I wanted you to follow your dreams._

_I wanted you to be free._

All these reasons ricocheted around Rei's head, but the ever-stoic brunette felt the phrases stick again, her mouth poised open as she tried to form the words. Finally she resigned to a different approach.

"How, Mina?" The other girl's cerulean eyes wavered uncertainly as the former miko spoke. "I had no idea where you were; no way to contact you. I wanted you around, but there was just no way." She paused. "I put the obituary in late in the hopes you might be back in town, but you were half way through a European tour by then."

"You're right. And I know it's too little too late, but…" Mina restrained the impulse to touch Rei again, "I'm sorry for your loss. I bet you miss him a lot."

A pause.

"How did you cope?"

Rei managed a small laugh. "Not well. I just went on lockdown. Ordinarily I'd have turned to Ami because we'd always had a weird sort of connection. The fact we didn't show how we felt kind of brought us closer together. That detached view of the world."

She stretched out her legs and got up, deciding to start searching Minako's overly cluttered room for the handcuff keys. It was clearly a big job, and she hadn't been able to muster the energy to tackle it until now.

"But of course she'd left for med school a year earlier. The best in the country, apparently. Then again, what did we expect?"

Minako followed her graceful movements with her eyes.

"It probably sounds a little crazy considering how much we fought, but actually it was Usagi-chan who helped me the most. She snapped me out of the mood I was in, made me feel needed again."

'_Usagi-**chan**?'_

The idol ignored the stinging sensation in her solar plexus. Since Rei had been with Yuuichirou, there was a high chance that Rei was just into men, but if she wasn't, Mina had always figured that she would be into Usa. Determined to know more, she prompted the brunette into talking again with an abundance of fake enthusiasm.

"Yay, Usagi-_chan_!" It was a miracle Rei didn't catch her spitting the last syllable. "Are you guys still in touch?"

"Yeah, though not so much now since Chibi-usa came along last year…"

Mina was stunned. The guilt began to build – she had missed Chibi-usa's birth, and this realisation forced her into a reality check. Usagi was destined to be with Mamoru. More than that, she used to be one of her best friends. She couldn't be jealous of Usa; sweet, meatball-headed Usa.

"Oh my God!" the blonde let her unpleasant thoughts of their princess melt away as she erupted in a high-pitched squeal. "Is she okay? Is she healthy? How many pounds was she?"

Rei grinned. "She was perfect. Eight pounds, two ounces, and a full head of fuchsia hair."

"What does she think of you? And that's my underwear drawer, by the way."

Rei blushed and closed the compartment with a nervous laugh. Then she continued:

"We have a relationship based on compromise. I think she's fantastic, but I'm mostly making plans to be the evil, no-crap aunt. You may take the post of fun, millionaire, of-course-I'll-buy-you-another-pony aunt."

"I don't know. The amount I'm away I'd probably just be 'that strange lady who buys me nice things', and no-one wants to sound _that _perverse."

Rei smirked. "She sure as heck won't forget me. I'm the one who taught her the magic word to make her mother go ape."

"You didn't?!"

"I did." She grinned proudly. "Chibi-usa's first word was Odango."

She set herself back on topic. "Plus I'm the only one who'll be willing to tell her what a ditz her mother was before she got married."

"Oh my God, of _course_! They would have got married!" Mina mentally kicked herself. "Were you there?"

"Are you kidding? I was maid of honour!"

"No way?!"

"Uhuh. I told you we were close. Though it happened around the time she was helping me out after Grandpa…" she skipped over the next word, and continued fluently, "so it may have been down to trying to cheer me up, but I don't mind. I was just happy to be there for her."

Minako nodded, watching the former miko rummage through one of her wardrobes. Then something else occurred to her.

"Oh my God, how did you keep the shrine? You didn't move away, did you?"

Rei laughed. "Of course not, baka. There's way too many memories in that place for me to sell it. No, Mako moved in with me. Her inheritance money from her parents finally ran dry, so she couldn't keep the apartment anymore. I know it was a bad thing to happen to her, but I gotta admit it was nice having the extra pair of hands. And the company."

"I thought she went to food tech college?"

"She failed the entrance exam."

"She _what_? _How_?"

"Don't get me wrong, she passed the practical part of the test, but there were also exams in Math and Japanese – even Chem because of food content these days."

"What did they want, all A's?"

"Actually, just C's but… well, after Ami left she got really distant. You know how close they always were."

"Wow, she must have been really bummed."

"She was. That's why she came to live with me, the queen of grief!" she cracked blackly.

At that moment she pulled a small silver key from the debris. "Got it!"

She looked up to see Mina staring hard at the floor.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked gently.

"Nothing, I just…" She smiled sadly. "I missed a lot, didn't I?"

Her friend walked back over to her and placed the key in the lock. "But you didn't, Minako. You saw the world! You made yourself a huge success and inspired girls everywhere to be just as much of a baka as you!"

"Hey!"

Rei laughed. "But seriously, Mina, anyone would be crazy to turn that opportunity down. You're a star! There!" The cuffs opened and the blonde withdrew her wrists, rubbing them where the restraints had been.

"Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

Rei remained squatting, staring at her thoughtfully. Then the familiar spark appeared in those intelligent eyes, and Minako felt the familiar grip of fear as a conspiratorial smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"What? What are you thinking?"

She felt static shoot through her hand as Rei grabbed it. "Come with me."

---

Oh dear lord, where is Rei taking Minako? …You know what's funny? I KNOW AND YOU DON'T! Anyhow must be heading off now. I have English coursework to mull over. You know you love me, so REVIEW!


	4. What You Gained

Oh my effing God, I can't BELIEVE there was a typo in the first sentence of the first chapter! I feel totally ashamed. Don't worry, my acute literary OCD dictates that I change these things, so now it's fixed.

Now, the moment you've been waiting for… where the hell is Rei taking Mina? Okay, I'll be the first to confess, the idea for this is based heavily upon a situation from a book called "Dare, Truth or Promise", but it's just that the situation is the most romantic thing I've ever heard… at least it is to me. Plus it really fits in with what Rei is trying to do for Mina. You guys should read it sometime, it's pretty cool. Oh, and don't worry, I haven't actually looked at it in AGES, so I won't be abducting any dialogue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, "Dare, Truth or Promise", "Can't Stop Loving You" by Phil Collins or the version of the lyrics by Keith Urban (I'm using the Collins track but to the slightly different lyrics because they fit better, if you know what I mean…). Indeed, I also don't own the Ford Ranger. I _will _own _a _Ford Ranger in the future, because they look absolutely awesome, but I don't have the blueprints or anything.

Anyhow, here we go, y'all (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha oh, I'm over it…)

---

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Four: What You Gained**

"Rei," Mina whined, "where are we going?"

"Stop your bellyaching, you'll see!"

After Minako had finally washed and dressed (due more to insecurity than will, since Rei had starting banging on about "essence of smelly tramp" not coming out of her car seat covers), the former miko had dragged her out of the apartment and pushed her into the passenger seat of her Ford Ranger.

This was quite an experience for the idol, because she hadn't been in a normal person's car in a long time - at least not without an army of security following close behind. This in itself made her feel quite vulnerable, and the absence of knowledge of where she was being taken just made things worse.

Given that she was now under the floodlights of her drive, she tried to occupy herself by inspecting Rei's choice of vehicle while she could still see it clearly.

It was a pick-up truck, red with splashes of black along the front bumper and across parts of the doors. These wide strips looped upward at the back to come down the centre of the top and nose of the car. Two thick, crooked silver poles connected the rear corners of the trailer to the back of the double cabin, and the tyres loomed dark and dense from beneath their arches.

"Compensating much?" she commented as her manager slid into the driver's seat.

"Shut up."

"So where _are_ we going?"

"I'm thinking of a phrase right now."

"Does it have to do with patience and virtues?"

"Well done, now guess this one: it involves shutting, hell and a direction."

"Oh, fine, whatever! You know, I-"

Rei turned on the radio in dismissal.

_**So you're leaving in the morning on the early train/I could say everything's alright/And I could pretend to say goodbye  
**_

Rei smiled to herself. Phil Collins seemed to know her ridiculously well.

_**You got your ticket, got your suitcase/You got your leaving smile/I could say that's the way it goes/I could pretend and you won't know/That I was lying**_

'Cause I can't stop loving you/ I can't stop loving you/No, I can't stop loving you/Though I try

We took a taxi to the station, not a word was said/No, I saw you walk across the road/It may be the last time I don't know

_**Feeling humble, heard a rumble on the railway tracks/And when I heard that whistle blow/I walked away and you won't know/That I was trying**_

'Cause I can't stop loving you/I can't stop loving you/No, I can't stop loving you/Though I try, I just can't stop loving you/No, I can't stop loving you/I just can't stop loving you/Why do I try, why do I try

During the hour-long drive, Rei had continued to fend off Mina's questions with deadpan returns in the hopes that the brick wall approach would silence her. Silence could make this perfect.

_No. Minako makes this perfect. You don't need anything else._

"Rehehei??"

_But it doesn't mean you're telling her. Impatient little ditz._

"Just shut up, already, we're here!"

Minako stepped out in her unfortunate choice of footwear – a pair of heels - and huffed exasperatedly.

"Oh great! A swamp."

Rei glared at her as she opened her own car door. She herself moved to grab some old sneakers from the backseat and put them on in the doorway. Eventually she jumped down, dwarfed by the comparatively large vehicle, and landed, legs bent and arms swung behind her, gymnastic, adept. Then she stood up straight and regarded the blonde nonchalantly.

_Very cool._

It was a grudging kind of approval on Minako's part, but the same simultaneous thought occurred to Rei as an almost juvenile hope to impress. Her face retained the glower however, and she grabbed the prima-donna by the wrist as she slammed her car door for her.

"You wanted to know where we were going, and I'm taking you there."

Mina's pout met with a warning look which unbeknownst to her masked a thrill of anticipation so strong that Rei wanted to burst.

"And besides, the longer you stand here, the greater the chance that your heels will get stuck in the mud."

Minako responded by tugging her pricy Stilettos out of the wet earth and leaning sulkily against the side of the car.

Through all this Rei's dark expression didn't waver. She turned around coolly and started walking.

"Whatever, Princess. _I'm_ going."

There was a few seconds where Rei listened anxiously for movement behind her. After a short silence, however, she heard tottering footsteps muffled by the terrain and grinned out of eyeshot.

"Rei, wait up!"

She had always figured a trick like that only worked on kindergarteners. Her grandfather had used it on the miko herself many a time in her childhood, given that she was so stubborn and he hadn't the sheer strength to make her do whatever it was she didn't want to. This meant mind games, and it was part of the reason why Rei could slip so well between cunningness and pure force of will.

The sound came closer, the brunette still refusing to turn around. Then the squelching steps became erratic, and her eyes widened as she heard a squeal.

"Rei!"

She spun abruptly in time to catch Minako in her arms.

"Easy!"

The two girls blushed a deep red, the crimson betrayal of not-so-buried feelings obscured from the other only by the clouds smothering the moonlight.

Not a word was spoken from that moment to the approach of solid concrete. Despite being only a hundred or so yards from this at the time of their close encounter, the journey took slightly longer to cover due to Rei's consideration of the blonde's shoe-related impairment.

Eventually, though, they made it, and Minako finally had a chance to focus on her location rather than her feet.

"Uh, Rei? That's sweet, but I didn't bring my passport."

Rei walked ahead a few steps then turned around, lit once again from behind. This time it was by the light of the moon, which had emerged victorious from behind its stifling cover.

Though this was not direct moonlight. Instead it was reflected onto her by the huge aeroplane she was positioned directly in front of, the glow silhouetting the imposing machine to give an impression somewhere between ominous and magical.

Minako stood dumbfounded as Rei lunged back towards her to grab her hand.

"So then, what?"

Together, two shadows ran along the path of the runway, one head of long hair glinting gold under the stars.

"I think we'll just about make it."

"Make it? Make it for what?"

Rei stopped running at this point and looked at Mina, who was panting from the semi-sprint in her Stilettos.

"The OSAKA-11 comes every Wednesday at eight forty-five." She then took a fleeting glance at her Kahuna watch and looked in the direction the plane should be coming.

"Your point?"

Rei opened her mouth to respond, before seeing the jet in question turning towards their runway. The brunette ran to stand directly in its path. Mina's baby-blue eyes grew wide.

"Oh no. You can't be serious!" She stole a quick look at the metal beast. Thankfully it had almost slowed to a stop as it made its precarious pivot. "What the hell do you hope to achieve?"

Her friend's violet eyes shone as she released her inner musings. "You say you're life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Well my feeling is that if you're around something too much you learn to appreciate it less."

_Really, Rei-chan? There wasn't a day that went by I didn't appreciate you._

"So you're going to throw yourself in front of a plane to make me appreciate how I get around?" She raised one eyebrow dubiously in spite of her agitation.

"Not me." She came back and tugged Mina along with her. "Us."

She ran back to her original spot, the blonde in tow, and walked back a few steps. "This should be about right."

"'_About_?!'" Minako freaked. "We're talking about the difference between living and being burned up by a jet engine, here, Rei! 'About' doesn't quite cover it!"

During all this, the idol had failed to notice that she had been raising her voice to an increasing extent, until she completed her final sentence and realised she could barely hear herself over the noise. Then her face drained of colour and she cast her gaze back. The plane had made advances towards them.

She tried to run, but she couldn't. The paralysis of sheer terror had gripped her, and she found all she could do was pray.

She felt her palm gripped by another, and looked across at Rei, who watched the plane intently as it approached. The propellers screamed as they spun to a blur, higher and higher pitched, accompanied simultaneously by the foreboding rumble of the engine.

A whoosh of air, hot in the cool night, nearly knocked them off their feet and took her breath away. This thrill spurred a high-pitched holler of a laugh from the brooding priestess, who was the most ecstatic Mina had ever seen her.

Minako herself meanwhile felt her palms film over in cold sweat, and she shook all over. The jet was nearly upon them now, the heat forced into the ground making it swim before their eyes.

She let out a shriek as the monster took off just above their heads, whipping their hair back even more fiercely, the roar going through their bodies in a way to which eight booming speakers could not begin to compare.

Suddenly it was over. She heart two voices giggle in nervous hysteria, and she came to realise that it was her who was laughing. It was breathless, uncontrollable. Her throat was sore from screaming and she felt almost winded, but she had never before been so grateful to be alive.

She looked at Rei, whose hand was still clasped to hers. Without really understanding why, she threw her arms around her. After a few moments the laughter dissolved to quiet tears. The former Venus cried for leaving and Mars, a single tear slipping down her cheek, for letting her go.

---

Okay, guys, how was that? I might alter some little bits, but right now, I'm pretty happy with it. As always, comments are mucho appreciated, so give me your reviews – THEY FEED MY SOUL…

Ahem, yeah, anyhow, Better boogie. Sayonara, minna!


	5. Mars

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay, but I've had some writer's block lately. Disappointingly, this chapter is rather uneventful (I knew this from the start, which is part of the reason I had writer's block in the first place) but I'm sure you can forgive me. On top of this, I can't promise I'll update much quicker for a while – I have my AS levels to mull over – but after 23rd May it'll all be over, so I'll try to get my act together again around then.

I've had a lot of chapters that were chronologically very close, so time for a clean break. Well, it's the next morning, anyway…

It's pretty obvious, but italics are for memories and thoughts. It's pretty easy to distinguish which. I'm just figuring I'll start with those for the next couple of chapters, because there's history Rei will be open about, and then there's… other history. ;)

I know the plane thing may be a little farfetched, but I can't be arsed to change it, and besides – why the hell does Rei know the exact time the OSAKA leaves?

I'll also explain the truck. Because there's a good explanation for it. Really.

Hmm… Can't seem to think of much else to say. Aw, well, might as well kick off then…

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Five: Mars**

_Rei slid open the door to the shrine. She didn't expect to see him anymore. The coldness and horribly still silence made it known to her. She hadn't cried yet, always just gazing inwardly, eyes glazed from the pain of losing a piece of herself to an acknowledged but somehow not understood fact of life._

_She had thanked Makoto kindly for attending the ceremony, but despite her friend's genuine concern, she had watched the girl's face mar with steadily increasing disappointment as she stole glances around the greenery at the back of the shrine. Rei knew who she had been waiting for. A small part of her had been waiting, too._

_The ritual had been held here. Indeed, presently dressed in her kimono and having ascended to being a qualified Shinto priestess, she had performed it herself. It was the least she could do._

_Usagi and Mamoru also came to pay their respects. Odango had managed not to cause a scene all day. She had mostly remained silent, though the quiet tears never ceased to pour down her face._

_Even Yuuichirou put in an appearance. Rei had too much on her plate today to be overly concerned with her feelings for him, which were still not completely severed after so long, but nonetheless, she worried for him. He looked pale, his eye sockets dark; and he was much thinner, as if he hadn't eaten properly. She knew he was still on the drugs. _

_When he came over to her, however, apologising for her loss and expressing wishes that things could have turned out better for the two of them, she had cupped the side of his face in her hand, pushing up his dense, unruly fringe. What she found nearly broke her down on the spot._

_His pupils weren't dilated. He was sober. He might have had a lot of problems, but today, he had pulled himself together. For Grandpa. For her._

_This single act of reverence had finally allowed for her to make her peace with him, and now he and everyone else had gone home. Makoto and Usagi both offered to stay, but Rei knew she had to face this moment alone. Mamoru had known too, gently dissuading the ardent Usagi from doing so. She had thanked him with her eyes as he pulled her away, and Makoto hadn't persisted too hard in the first place. She had other things to think about._

_The body had now been taken away for cremation. She didn't like to think about it._

_She took one step into the foyer, closing the door behind her._

_She had always assumed that something would have to set it off. Something specific. But this media-acquired perspective, brought on by Saturday night specials and bad movies, was a lie. It took only that shutting away of the outside world, the pall to shroud her from prying eyes, for the plates of that carefully constructed mask to slip._

_The lamp was the first in the crossfire. It hurtled across the room, smashing against the far wall and taking the silence with it. Rei spun on her heel half a circle, and shrieked as she swept everything else off the foyer table._

"_The number you have dialled has not been recognised. Please hang up and try again. The number you have-"_

_She turned slowly towards the phone, now off its hook on the floor. A wounded scowl befell her features, and she tore it clean out of the wall, resting her forehead against the cold wooden foundations of the shrine. She breathed heavily. Then the snarl collapsed to an expression of pure, unadulterated emotional pain. She slammed her back to the wall, slipping down to the floor in tears._

_A photograph caught her eye, its frame smashed in her fury. She picked it up. Her and her friends, at the park a few years back. The sight of one person in particular made her clutch the picture tighter, ignoring the sharp edges cutting into her skin. She stared at the face of her best friend, and cried even harder. She cried until her ribs ached, and after a while, as the tears began to subside, wondered in a blur of guilt who she was mourning for – who she truly wanted back more than anything._

"_Mina…" She whispered the words in the fallen darkness._

"_Mina, I need you…"_

---

She watched herself swaying onstage, singing soulfully into the mike. The image was convex, tinted amethyst with a black core, and the bulb of the hanging light fixture glinted in a corner of the bubble of intense observation.

Minako watched the reflection from the TV in Rei's eye until Rei's eye caught Minako's reflection in the TV.

The blonde jumped as Rei turned to look at her and immediately sat up straight, trying to look like she hadn't been gazing too intensely into those violet orbs. The brunette tried to look as calm as possible, inwardly hoping she hadn't been gazing too intensely at Mina's ass in that stage outfit.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Rei turned her gaze away from the grinning ditz and refocused her attention on her pixelated counterpart. "Studying."

"Studying what? Me?!" Rei felt the other girl's chin rest on her shoulder and resisted a shiver at the contact.

Caught off her guard, she went with her usual reflex: bravado.

"Well if I wanna know how to get things going right for you, it makes sense for me to see where you started going wrong, right, baka?"

Surprisingly complacent to the near-attack on her hard-earned career, Minako went straight for the jugular and probably didn't even know she'd done it.

"Well, I'm a little insulted you've gotta do so much research. Clearly you never watched my gigs."

Rei took on an indignant expression. "Mina…!"

_Of course I did. I just never watched them for analytical value before._

Again words failed her.

_I watched them to keep you around in my head._

The gesture was misinterpreted as irritation, however, and before she could turn her sentence opener into something constructive, the close presence was gone and Mina was headed out the door.

"Jeez, you and you're 'alone time'. Whatever. You need me, I'll be down at soundcheck, okay?"

Soundcheck. That's right, Mina had caved. It was never actually iterated outright, but the events of last night (which had also not been mentioned since) seemed to have had the desired effect. It would be too much to expect Minako to admit she had been persuaded, and so when she had sauntered in like it had been her intention to perform from the start, Rei for once let it slide.

_No point messing with a good thing._

The fact that she had unintentionally done just that unsettled the usually coolheaded priestess, and she hesitated as she considered following her. Eventually, though, she reluctantly averted her gaze, turning her attention towards the lyrics foldouts on the bed. Rei doubted that it was Minako's own talent that had brought her down - contrary to her harsh words, most of her problems seemed to be down to technical disasters – but still it was worth making sure she wasn't missing anything.

_Better to get the biggest contrast._

She sifted through the foldouts, taking out Minako's debut album and latest addition.

As she listened to Minako's performance through one earphone, Rei's violet eyes darted down the sheet. Unfortunately, the backgrounds to each page featured Minako in various poses, and it was only the shriek of a microphone assaulting her left eardrum that drew her from evident distraction.

She cursed loudly before glaring at the screen.

_The mike this time. Either you're being sabotaged or some clown is not doing their job._

Turning the volume down to avoid a repeat performance, she continued what she was doing.

It was strange. In the beginning, most of Minako's songs were bright and carefree, but by the last few releases, things had changed. Her songs had become a little gloomier – not noticeably as she sang, because the tunes were always so upbeat, but when you looked at their foundations, the words alone, Rei felt sadness build inside her for her friend.

_What happened to you, Mina?_

A scream of frustration echoed throughout the performance hall below, and Rei was suddenly out the door. The phrase that escaped her, a name dead for so long, caused her heart to jar for a moment, a well of memories bursting forward.

"Mars…" A smile formed on her lips. "Sailor Mars to the rescue…"

---

Told you – it's filler, nothing more. Oh well, hope to hear some feedback, however useless it may be, and I'll update whenever I get half a chance.


	6. Things I Never Said

Howdi doodie. Felt you got a little short-changed last time, so here's another chapter, designed purely for Minako's embarrassment.

Minako: "Hey!"

Rei: "PLEASE, you love it."

Minako: "So? THEY don't need to know that…"

Rei: "You probably figured this out anyway, but for the record, she's the bitch in this relationship."

Minako: "Hey! I'm no-one's bitch!"

Rei: "No, I'm sorry, you're right."

Minako: (Looks pleased with herself.)

Rei: "You don't get subservient until I bring out the whi-"

Minako: "OKAY, let's continue the story!"

Rei: "Also, Takako does not own Sailor Moon… but I own Minako."

Minako: "Oh, that's it!"

--Scuffling is heard--

I don't own "A Little Pain" by JPop artist, Olivia, either (and from the not rhyming, you can safely assume the lyrics are translated from Japanese).

--Turns back to them-- Guys, please don't do that on my couch…

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Six: Things I Never Said**

_Rei awoke on concrete. She stared at nothing in particular, but despite being so outwardly detached, something… something had switched back on inside her mind, and her heart began to pump desperately as she relived it…_

_---_

_The wedding had ended, and Rei walked into the foyer in her bridesmaid's dress to answer the phone. There were chips around the cord from before. She had been home for a while now, evident by the black sky, but taking off the garment would be to dismiss the day's events – moreover, it would force her to return to her melancholy reality. Now she was alone._

"_Hello?"_

"_Rei?"_

_The static made the voice tinny, but the miko still knew who it was._

"_Meatball Head? What's going on, I thought you'd be on the plane by now?"_

"_The flight got delayed."_

"_Oh."_

_A pause. "Listen…" She sounded nervous. "There's a lot of paparazzi around, and a lot of it…"_

_A deep breath._

"_Sweetie, a lot of it suggests that Mina's catching a flight here, too."_

_Rei was silent. Usa tried to compensate with empty cheer. "Quite a coincidence, huh?"_

_Still no response._

"_I just thought you might want to know."_

_There was a scuffling sound in the background, and a deep voice signalled Mamoru's presence close by._

"_Oh, uh, I gotta go. It looks like we're boarding." The blonde hesitated on the other end of the receiver._

"_Bye, Rei-chan."_

_Rei stood with the phone poised next to her ear. Even after the click, she listened absentmindedly to the monotone as she tried to withstand her torrent of emotion. She knew what Usagi had meant –_

Whatever you need to do, you should do it now.

_Tears slid down her cheeks, and suddenly the phone was once again off its hook on the floor, and the miko herself in a taxi._

"_Osaka airport, please."_

_---_

"_Cheapest flight you got."_

_The baggage attendant raised an eyebrow._

_Rei clarified by gesturing to her sides. "No baggage."_

_After the slow pass through security, she broke free from single-file and jogged until she hit a crowd. Frustration overloaded her first, before she tuned in to what they were saying. Jackpot._

_She wouldn't even have to ask. The excited whispering of teenaged girls told her everything._

"Did you see Aino Minako? She's going to New York! Wow, she's even prettier in person!"

_Rei even managed a small smile as she struggled through the crowd in a blur._

Yes, I know.

_The crowd dispersed a little. She noticed the flight detail boards; ran a clear stretch towards them._

I remember.

_She skidded to a halt and skimmed over them, eyes flicking desperately through the flight numbers. With no luck, she felt her heart sink and went to an attendant._

"_Excuse me, what happened to the New York flight?"_

_The woman, tall and angular, smiled sweetly at Rei. "The OSAKA-11 just finished boarding, so it should take off any minute now._

"_What? No, I-"_

_Rei remembered little of the journey down to here. A quick architectural calculation, a few staff-only entry signs and then…_

"I need to get on that flight!"

"Well, I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm afraid you're too late."

"But..."

_The frustrating conversation with such brick wall authority had fuelled the hothead to spite it, and so now she sprinted, sides aching, to the end of the runway where a plane was turning in – Mina's plane. The words came out in panting breaths as she struggled for air._

"_Wait! No! Mina! Mina, you can't!"_

_The scream of the engine overpowered her, terrified her as it came rumbling towards her. And suddenly, Hino Rei thought that that was it._

"_Mina…"_

_Closer, ever closer. She tried to say three words. Three small, redeeming last words to her best friend._

"_I…"_

---

"_I…" Rei lifted her head off the ground and began to acknowledge her existence._

"_I'm alive."_

_She pushed herself up on her hands, crawled to her feet. Slowly, she began the long walk home. It felt right. It was cleansing. Liberating._

_Four hours later, she arrived at the foot of the shrine steps. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, until finally she found herself grinning – actually grinning; the first time in too long. She stared up at the steep climb and released an exhilarated shriek to the echoing landscape, followed by laughter; so much laughter._

_She was free._

_It was only when she turned back around that she noticed a familiar green pick-up parked on the curb..._

---

"Oh my God, did it hurt?"

"If this ends with 'when you fell from heaven' I will literally send the cool police to arrest you."

"You shouldn't - they're still looking for you. No, I meant when you're limb fell off. Only that's the sole explanation I can find for you to hit a decibel like that."

"Cute. Very cute."

Rei's eyebrows raised coolly. "So?"

Clearly this prompt was some kind of open-sesame word, because suddenly the verbal floodgates opened.

"The stupid acoustics are abnormal! And I can't sing and try different amp settings at the same time, because – oh yeah! – I'm not SUPERHUMAN!"

Minako suddenly realised the look that Rei was giving her.

"Okay, so maybe I'm a _little_ superhuman," she hissed out of earshot of the crew, "but I'm not THAT good."

She pouted at Rei, who resisted the urge to either melt or laugh, and continued. "So I keep recording myself and playing it back and it's taking for_ever_! I can't practice for the full stadium if I can't get _this_ stuff right!"

Her manager smiled a rare smile. "Okay then, how about I go up and sing for you so you can work through the technical stuff?"

The blue eyes brightened so much that Rei's watered from the visual impact.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course! It's _my_ rep too, you know."

She breezed past the blonde, calling back, "Any particular song of yours you want me to sing?"

"No. Just sing your favourite," Minako responded as she positioned herself at the back of the hall with the sound switchboard.

How she would regret it.

Rei sifted through the CD's and came to a backing track as Minako watched attentively from the back of the hall. It started to play, and Rei walked to the centre of the stage and waited for her cue. The minute the intro began, however, the idol's face fell and began to turn an unbecoming shade of crimson, as she remembered the origins of that song…

---

_Minako lay down on her bed in a hotel suite – her first time alone in a place like this._

_She flopped down onto the bed – a king-sized four-poster with a white duvet she lived in fear of spilling something on – and sighed to herself. Only a few hours ago she had been saying goodbye to all of her friends – and one in particular was difficult to leave behind._

_She felt tears begin to come, brought on by a tugging sensation in her heart - the taught wire tying her to her home – but right here, right now, was her future. And, she resolved, if there was anyone she had to let go of to find some solace in this new life, it was that girl. She would be the figurehead of a past marred by lost youth, responsibility overload and teen angst._

_In one quick movement she picked up a pad of paper and a biro and tapped restlessly at the top line. Finally, she wrote, "A Little Pain". Underscore. Idiosyncratic but grammatically incorrect full stop. Miss a line, and begin…_

---

"**Travel to the moon, you're asleep, the answer to my dreams / No one is here, as the light of the stars winds around…"**

Rei's voice resounded through the large room, angelic when coupled with the echo of the walls. Mina herself stood dumbfounded, thankfully sheer distance and the shadow of the rear balcony obscuring her from the other girl.

"**I've forgotten how to smile, in order to be strong / If the two of us are together, I can certainly take that back again…"**

Before she knew what she was doing, Minako found herself singing along to her own words in a pitch to harmonise with the brunette as she absentmindedly began to tweak the amp settings. Naturally, though, Rei couldn't hear her voice over the speakers. Thank God.

_Damned feelings!_

"**Notice me / I'm here waiting for you / Even if the future is different from the present / I'm here waiting for you / Continuing to scream out / Certainly the string connected to my heart is being pulled / In order to open my eyes back then / No need to cry…"**

"**Travel in silence, even though I reach out my hand and touch you / You're far away, inside of my memories…"  
**

Rei, meanwhile, directed her full attention at the faraway Minako, urged the lyrics to her. She had never figured out why the girl had written them, but they certainly applied to the miko herself, and all of those bottled up feelings. Not only about the girl she loved, but sung by her too – of course it was her favourite song.

"**I can hear your voice, when I close my eyes / I love even the small pain that it causes me…"  
**

The bittersweet tone went unnoticed by Minako, but it gnawed at Rei's nerves considerably as she tried to stay calm under the pressure. She had always wanted to sing this back to Minako, and though her true intentions probably hadn't even crossed the innocent Aino's mind, it felt good to get the desire out into the open. Absolutely terrifying, but good.

She began strongly on the second chorus, pouring her heart into the words.

"**Look at me / I'm here waiting for you / Even if I get lost alone, blown on by the wind / I'm here waiting for you / Looking up to the sky / My hands are always spread apart, protecting my heart / Until you, from back then, turn around to look at me / No need to cry…**

"**(Feel something, feel nothing) / (Listen closely, listen closely) / Wide open ears /Disarm the dream tickler / In the constant moment / (You will find me where it's quiet) / (Listen closely, listen closely) / Let the blood flow / Through all the spaces / Of the universe…**

"**Notice me / I'm here waiting for you / Even if the future is different from the present / I'm here waiting for you / Continuing to scream out / Certainly the string connected to my heart is being pulled / In order to open my eyes back then / No need to cry…"**

Minako had shifted her weight uncomfortably from leg to leg for that agonisingly slow few minutes, but she clapped on cue with genuine enthusiasm as Rei wrapped up the song. This was partly for the woman's spectacular voice and performance, but also for finally releasing Minako from her obvious (at least to the blonde herself) mortification.

Rei jumped down from the stage as the backing track faded out and walked over to the idol on legs shaky from her secret confession. She stood before her, exhilarated:

"How was that? Did you get all the settings?"

"Yeah," Minako lied, the amps untouched and unrefined thanks to such distraction. "Thanks for your help."

"Okay then," Rei grinned a dopey grin (a WHAT!?!) and headed back upstairs. "Better get back to work. See you later Mina-chan…"

---

_Minako sat up cross-legged and scanned over her completed handiwork._

"_Goodbye, Rei."_

---

Well, guys, that's the end of another chapter. Oh, and could you do me a favour? I've got a little document on here called "As We Know It", and I wondered if any of you guys could read through and review it for me – I'd really appreciate it if you could. It's a Film Studies thing – written in script format, but you can ignore the camera angles and stuff of course and just focus o the dialogue.

Many thanks. And oh yeah, review this too:) Love you to pieces, really!

Minako: (Giggles)

Rei: "But _I _love _you_ more, Mina-chan…"

Guys, what did I just say about my couch?


	7. Self Esteem

Hi, people. I know, it's been a whole… um… long time since my last update, but I've been a good girl and done all my revision and exams, so now I'm all freed up! All I need is a good kick up the backside to finish this, so if you give me a little feedback it might help me get my inspiration get back on track.

Glad people have enjoyed the last few instalments. So, this is Chapter Seven – and the flashback includes a very special GUEST APPEARANCE! Because, let's face it, children, _Rei_ may not be the kind of girl to own a pick-up, but we all know who would… In fact, I tell you who it is in the first paragraph. It's probably on the stretch of page you're reading right now. There's really no point in entertaining any suspense at all, to be honest.

So, let's begin…

**Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig**

**Chapter Seven: Self Esteem**

_Rei approached the vehicle __slowly at first, before slipping into a brisk walk, eventually arriving at and peering through the window of the familiar vehicle. On the backseat of the double-cabin, she watched a young woman stir in her sleep, curled up under a thin blanket._

"_Mako-chan?"_

_---_

"_Sit down. I'll get you some cocoa or something."_

_Makoto smiled gratefully as Rei swept past her, and called over her shoulder. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Rei. It really means a lot."_

"_Not at all," came the echoed reply from the kitchen. "I'm not going to leave one of my best friends sleeping outside like a tramp. Besides, it'd be bad for business."_

_Mako __grinned broadly and waited for the miko to hand her the steaming mug, before the other girl took a seat opposite her. She clasped her hands in silence, watching intently as her guest took a sip. Finally, the taller girl settled on a sheepish expression._

"_I guess the next thing to cover is why I was out there in the first place, huh."_

_Rei smiled consolingly. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."_

"_Yeah__ right, and wait for you to bring out the thumbscrews?" It just so happened that something flew by the window. An eery shadow darkened Rei's eye sockets menacingly for a moment, and suddenly Makoto wished to God she hadn't said that._

"_Seriously, though, I'm okay to explain." She placed the mug carefully on a placemat before beginning._

"_You know how I lived on my own because my parents' money was left to me?"_

_Rei nodded._

"_Turns out I haven't got enough to keep the apartment anymore."_

_The miko's eyes widened. "Kami, Mako-chan! Are you serious? How long have you known?"_

_The brown-haired waitress pulled her long arms up in a broad arc, intertwining them around the back of her head. "Only a couple of weeks – not long enough for me to do anything to keep my place."_

_Rei's voice became urgent. "Oh, Mako, you should have told us, we might have been able to help!"_

"_No! I__t was the wedding - I didn't want to worry anyone. Besides…"_

_She picked up the cup again and drank another mouthful of cocoa. "I figured that, you know, it might be a chance to move on."  
_"_Move on? From what?"_

_Makoto set down the mug again and looked up, a glint in her jade eyes._

"_Ami."_

---

Minako groaned. "I hate this part."

Rei sat beside her in the makeshift waiting room, the ringing phones, humming computers and irritating elevator music amalgamated in the stuffy office atmosphere.

"You'll be fine – I don't question that they're ball-breakers, but you're…" Rei mouthed _Sailor Venus _animatedly. "You've got superballs."  
Minako blinked. "Um, Rei? Sweetie, watch…"  
She jiggled and her boobs moved in tandem. Rei felt a nosebleed coming on.  
"I don't have balls."  
Rei glared. "ME-TA-PHOR!!!"

At that moment, a door opened, and the blonde and brunette turned to the man who emerged.  
"Aino-san? The board is ready for you now."

Minako nodded slowly, and the two women stood and followed him through. They remained at the end of the long mahogany table, closest to the door, while he returned to his place on the far corner. Opposite him, a plastic-looking woman whose turkey-neck gave away her true age sat like she had a stick up her ass. She looked strikingly familiar to Rei, but she couldn't think where from. At the end of the table sat the ring-leader, Mr. Yamada, head of Minako's music company. He was tall with greying hair in a short, almost military style – not what you expected in the media industry.

"Miss Aino." The voice was stony. Rei winced internally. Minako may have to _grow _balls for this.

Minako, meanwhile, inclined her head slightly. "Mr. Yamada."

"We've been studying your application. You've been with the company for… six years now?"

Minako nodded.

"So, you're sixth annual review… few celebrities have remained with us for this long. Many lose popularity and simply… _fade_, if you will."

Rei frowned. 'Celebrity'; not 'star'. She risked a glance at her friend, who was staring directly into his eyes, back straight, expression struggling for neutrality. Why did that look so familiar, too?

"That's why it's ever more necessary to check up on your progress."

He stretched and sat back in his chair. "Let us not inconvenience you longer than necessary, Aino-san. We have decided not to renew your contract with us."

Rei's stomach plummeted.

"Wait! What? WHY?" Minako demanded, stricken.

Poker-ass spoke up next, reading from her notes. "Aino, you're performances have been disasters! Failed lighting, no-show dancers… _four_ incidents of abominable acoustics? It can't continue, Miss Aino! We go through it every year, and it has to stop!"

"No!" cried Minako, getting more and more distraught. "You don't understand! It's my manager!"

Three pairs of eyes turned to Rei then. Wow, that was terrifying. She tried to remember herself and immediately shifted the blame.

"I can vouch for that! The run of her previous manager, Yamamoto Goro, seems to coincide with most of these problems. Surely we could talk this through- Minako?"

Presently Minako was hastily standing to leave. Rei caught sight of tear tracks as she ran out the door.

She jumped up to go after her.

"I'm sorry," Yamada boomed insincerely. Rei turned to meet his gaze again icily. "But our decision is final."

The miko's eyes darted back to the woman, and suddenly it hit her. She clicked her fingers for emphasis.

"Beryl!" The board just stared at her, and she sweat-dropped.

"Never mind."

---

"Minako!"

The third set of fire doors in the building began to close on her. Rei ran at them with a shoulder-butt. She caught a glimpse of Minako as she disappeared behind the next set, and broke into a sprint. Finally, a burst of natural light and open air, and Rei gained on her as her beaten friend staggered to a stop.

"Minako…" she grabbed the woman's shoulder from behind, but the blonde shook her off. "No! Get away from me! I'm a failure. My whole career has been a waste of time!"

Rei stared, stunned at her outburst. She was hoping for a speech more fitting for Usagi's "twin" - 'they're so mean!' or 'it's not fair!' perhaps.

She felt sadness flood her defences upon summing up such a change in her best friend; reclusive for days after a bad concert, and now taking the words of those bigots so seriously. This wasn't the Venus she knew. Her voice cracked. "Don't say that."

"WHY NOT?" Minako yelled through her sobs. "It's true, isn't it?!"

"Because…" Rei's voice sounded thicker. The idol turned to find tears falling freely down the face of the one person she thought was invincible. "Because if it's true… then letting you go was even more of a mistake than I thought it was." Her eyes lowered to the floor, frustrating Minako as she obscured the amethyst eyes she needed so desperately to search through. "If suffering all this time was just for you to suffer, too… I don't know if I could stand it."

A silence stretched over the scene, until Minako, almost in a trance, moved closer.

The brunette ignored the gesture, until Minako's hand tilted her best friend's face up to meet hers. Rei reluctantly looked into those deep blue eyes, the hurt from earlier replaced with a long-dormant adolescent fear of rejection – the thought that the way she had heard what the miko had said might just be a silly misunderstanding devised only to slam the boot into her battered pride one final time. Touching Rei like this, she was so high at that moment – Minako knew that if her feelings were wrong this time, she'd be shot out of the sky, and she would never wake up.

The taller woman couldn't stand seeing that all-too-familiar look of uncertainty. It was meant for losers like her, not the Princess of Venus. And so she did all it would take to eradicate it.

She leaned towards Minako, wrapping her strong arms around her waist, easing full pink lips against hers. The other girl cupped Rei's face, leaning into it completely as the brunette stole the strawberry lip gloss from her warm mouth.

It was strange – no tongues, no force, no lustful desperation. It was like being fourteen all over again. The exchange was so sweet, so pure, that the two of them felt their lost innocence rushing back to them, and when they finally parted, Minako realised how badly she wanted to keep it.

She rested her forehead against Rei's. "Take me home."

Rei immediately understood. Home. Her _real_ home.

Hikawa Jinja.

---

"_I'm sorry, Mako."  
_"_It's alright; it's why I want a fresh start – to make her just another part of my past."_

_Rei pointed a finger, a suspicious expression on her face. "You better not be including our destinies in that."  
_"_Don't worry, I'm not – of course, that makes it all a lot harder…"_

"_Hmm…" Rei's expression was all too knowing as she drifted into other thoughts._

_Mako smiled. "Mina."_

"_Huh?" Rei refocused her gaze warily. "What, is there a sign on my head or something? Usagi-chan said exactly the same thing earlier."_

"_No. I just recognise the expression on your face from the mirror. We're both suckers for clever girls…"_

_Rei raised an eyebrow at this description of Mina. Mako frowned. "Don't be mean!"_

_The Fire Senshi grinned at this, then sank back slightly in her chair with a different glow in her cheeks. "Actually, Mako, I think I'm on the road to recovery."_

Or rather, the runway…

_Makoto blinked. "Oh yeah? How come? I demand you impart your wisdom, wise Priestess."_

_Rei rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and folded her arms in mock annoyance._

"_First of all, you don't make demands of the holy; you beg and lick their shoes clean. Second, no. You must discover this knowledge on your own, in your own time."_

_Makoto's face fell__. "Rei, that's like us and Sudoku – you? Ten minutes. Me? Three hours of staring, then I burn it with a Zippo."_

_Rei sighed. "Ami always wondered why her puzzle books had so many pages missing…"_

_Makoto smiled, then began to fidget again. "Um, Rei, would it be okay if I stayed with you for a while?"_

"_No."_

_Mako stared in surprise. Rei was calm, her expression casual as she sipped her tea._

_There was a long pause. Mako hit Rei in the head with a cushion, but still the expression remained the same._

_Finally the miko's__ head bowed slightly. "Okay."_

_Mako's eyes narrowed. "Hell is filled with people like you."_

---

So, people, some action this time! I do apologise if it wasn't that great, it is two in the morning where I am, after all. I just had a block for **Floodgates** and remembered that, hey, I have something else to be getting on with! In fact, **Floodgates** is better. Read that, too! Lol.

Oh, also, if you thought some dialogue seemed to be missing with Rei and Makoto between the first and second flashback sequences, you'd be right, haha. It would ruin the surprise for the run-along other half of this story, The Vacation (working title). If you wanna know what was said, read that. When I write it. IF I write it.

Later!


End file.
